An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier that includes a conductive substrate, and a photosensitive layer and a surface protection layer; a developing device that includes an electrostatic image developer containing a toner, and develops the electrostatic image to form a toner image. The toner contains an amorphous polyester resin and has a weight average molecular weight Mw in a range of from 25,000 to 60,000, and a ratio of the weight average molecular weight Mw to a number average molecular weight Mn (Mw/Mn) is in a range of from 5 to 10. In the toner, a ratio of an absorbance for a wavelength of 1500 cm.sup.1 to an absorbance for a wavelength of 720 cm.sup.1 is 0.6 or less, and a ratio of an absorbance for a wavelength of 820 cm.sup.1 to the absorbance for a wavelength of 720 cm.sup.1 is 0.4 or less.

An electrophotographic image forming system forms an electrostatic latent image on at least a photoreceptor, develops an image using an electrostatic charge image developing toner, and removes the toner using a cleaning blade. A tip ridge of the cleaning blade is pressed against a surface of the photoreceptor. The system includes a photosensitive layer of the photoreceptor and a surface protecting layer that is provided on a surface of the photosensitive layer. The surface protecting layer includes a polymerizable monomer having at least two polymerizable groups in a molecule and a polymer of a hole transporting compound having a polymerizable group represented by General formula (1). The tip ridge of the cleaning blade has an edge angle that is obtuse and less than 120? and is pressed against the surface of the photoreceptor at an effective contact angle that is in a range of 8 to 20?. ##STR00001##

The present invention provides: an electrophotographic photosensitive member which can achieve both of abrasion resistance and electrical characteristics; a production method of the electrophotographic photosensitive member; and a process cartridge and an electrophotographic apparatus having the electrophotographic photosensitive member. A surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a cured product and a specific amount of an alcohol or carboxylic acid having a specific structure, wherein the cured product is a polymerized product of a hole transporting compound having an acryloyloxy group or a methacryloyloxy group.

Provided is an electrophotographic photosensitive member, including: a support; a charge-generating layer on the support; a charge-transporting layer on the charge-generating layer; and a protective layer on the charge-transporting layer, wherein the protective layer contains the following components (), (), and (): () a polymer of a hole-transportable compound; () a polycarbonate resin; and () a hole-transportable compound, wherein a content of the component () in the protective layer is 0.01 mass % or more and 4.0 mass % or less with respect to a content of the component () in the protective layer, wherein a content of the component () in the protective layer is 0.001 mass % or more and 3.0 mass % or less with respect to the content of the component () in the protective layer, and wherein the charge-transporting layer contains the component ().

A coating film of a coating liquid for a surface layer, the coating liquid containing a hole transporting compound having a chain-polymerizable functional group and a compound having a specified structure, is cured to thereby form a surface layer of an electrophotographic photosensitive member.

To provide an electrophotographic photosensitive member being excellent in abrasion resistance and having good electrical characteristics. The surface layer of the electrophotographic photosensitive member contains a copolymerized product of a hole transporting compound having a specified structure and a compound having a specified structure.

An electrophotographic photoreceptor includes a conductive substrate, a charge generation layer provided on the conductive substrate, a charge transport layer provided on the charge generation layer, and a surface protective layer provided on the charge transport layer, in which the charge transport layer has a film thickness of 8 m or greater and 25 m or less, and the surface protective layer is a cured film of a composition, having a film thickness of 10 m or less and containing a resin (X) that has at least one of a unit represented by Formula (X1) or a unit represented by Formula (X2) and a reactive group-containing charge transport material that contains a reactive group and a charge-transporting skeleton in an identical molecule,

##STR00001## in Formula (X1), R.sup.101, R.sup.102, and R.sup.103 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, L.sup.101 represents a single bond, an alkylene group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, O, C(O), C(O)O, an aromatic ring that may have a substituent, or a combination thereof, L.sup.102 represents a single bond, an alkylene group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, O, C(O), C(O)O, or a combination thereof, R.sup.104 and R.sup.105 each independently represent an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, n represents an integer of 0 or greater and 300 or less, R.sup.106, R.sup.107, and R.sup.108 each independently represent an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms or O[Si(R.sup.109)(R.sup.110)O].sub.mSi(R.sup.111)(R.sup.112)(R.sup.113) R.sup.109, R.sup.110, R.sup.111, R.sup.112, and R.sup.113 each independently represent an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, and m represents an integer of 0 or greater and 20 or less, in Formula (X2), R.sup.201, R.sup.202, and R.sup.203 each independently represent a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, L.sup.201 represents a single bond, an alkylene group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, O, C(O), C(O)O, an aromatic ring that may have a substituent, or a combination thereof, L.sup.202 represents a single bond, an alkylene group having 1 or more and 5 or less carbon atoms, O, C(O), C(O)O, or a combination thereof, and R.sup.204 is an alkyl group having 6 or more and 30 or less carbon atoms.

The process cartridge is a process cartridge to be removably mounted onto a main body of an electrophotographic apparatus, the process cartridge including: an electrophotographic photosensitive member; a toner; and a developing member, wherein the electrophotographic photosensitive member includes a surface layer that is a polymerized film of a composition containing at least one kind of monofunctional (meth)acrylic compound selected from the group consisting of: a monofunctional (meth)acrylic monomer; and a monofunctional (meth)acrylic oligomer, and at least one kind of tri- or higher functional (meth)acrylic compound selected from the group consisting of: a tri- or higher functional (meth)acrylic monomer; and a tri- or higher functional (meth)acrylic oligomer, wherein the toner contains a toner particle and a hydrotalcite particle as an external additive, and wherein the hydrotalcite particle contains fluorine in filter fitting analysis of STEM-EDS analysis.